Club Triumph

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Perfecto!

Looks like yours will be finished before mine! Who's arches are those?

I'm still struggling to get a set that don't require a lot of fitting work.

Looking good, and those rear wheels fill the arches quite nicely

Thanks Benzo and Beans. Yes I think my calculations were just about right on the wheels! Phew! The rear arches are Rimmer Bros Tarmac spec. I'd previously bought a full set of arches on ebay but the rears were forest spec and not wide enough for what I wanted. The fit isn't too bad but they do need a bit of shaving here and there along the edge that meets the body, although mine are unfettled straight out of the box.. Also these arches fit with the assumption that you have cut enough of the old arch away at the lower rear edges. As they are fibreglass, you can easily get them to fit how you want to be honest. In one of my pics you can see a bit of a gap along the front lower edged of the arch. The fronts will be ok and once I've dressed the rear axle with brake pipes and cables I'll be moving onto the front end. I'm going to remove the front struts and suspension arms and clean everything up like I've done at the back. I've still got a lot to do so not sure I'll be ready before you Benzo, but you have a much more complex job than me! I bought a 4 pot brake kit from S&S about 10 years ago (It was actually a Rimmers kit but going cheap at the time supplied but by S&S). I'm interested to know if the 13" Revolutions will fit over them. As they are the 'Race' spec wheels they are very light and so may be a bit thinner walled than the standard 13" and of course have a wider offset at 00ET.

Mine are also Rimmers arches, they are the best fitting I can find.

They're not a bad fit really, mine have been screwed straight on without any mods. If you are blending them in then you will need a bit of work, but I'm just screwing on as per the rally cars. You've got to get them positioned correctly. The lower parts are curved to the shape of the cill quite well, but you have to make sure the arch is not tilting. I've studied a few photos of these arches fitted on the net and the different way people fit them. Some tilt back, some tilt forward and some are the wrong way round! I fitted mine so that the arch is level on the side view, or as near to level as I could get them while keeping the cill curve tight and not going above the swage crease in the wing. I think if you get to close to the swage then the arch will be pushed out at the top and more modification would be needed.

Moved to the front of the car today. Basically just need a good wire brushing to subframe and chassis rails before rust treatment, Bonda primer and then gloss red Rustoleum. I started by removing the front struts, bottom arms and anti roll bar, but first I wanted to see if the Rimmer Bros 4 pot big brake kit would fit with the 13" Revolutions. I was almost pleasantly surprised! The wheel fitted and turned with only a slight skimming noise. I figured it would be ok to shave off the parts of the calipers that were making contact with the rim. I had to remove the inner balancing weights but figured I could get them re-balanced with clip on weights to the inside edge. Anyway after skimming a bit off the top and bottom outer corners of the caliper I refitted the wheel and tightened a couple of nuts. Oh no, the wheel wouldn't turn at all! The top and bottom corners were still making contact. In for a penny, in for a pound, so grinding continued until hey presto! Wheels fits and spins freely! I kept trialling it after each bit of skimming until the wheel ran free with nuts tightened. I don't think I have jeopardised the strength of the caliper either, still plenty of material around the upper and lower bolts. I'd better keep the caliper lacquer thin in this area though! I could sand a bit off the section of wheel rim I suppose. The previous brakes were the S&S Capri 2.8 set up with vented discs, so I will keep these as a spare kit and get the calipers refurbished. Anyhow, I still managed to remove the struts but a couple of the anti roll bar bolts were seized soild! My car had the anti-dive kit fitted in 91 and the bolts had corroded themselves to the aluminium! What a pig! I had to grind the head off one bolt and destroy the other spacer! Oh well, I'll get a new anti dive kit and this time will lash those bolts with copper grease!  

Wheel trial fitted! Was looking good! But a bit tight

Scratched head for a while and then got skimming with the grinder. Ground a bit at a time until no contact with rim

You can see in the pics that I've gone as far as the spacer and a bit more at the top and bottom sections. The spacers were slightly recessed so I figured it would be safe to go at least this far and a bit more.

Will give them a coat of yellow caliper lacquer before fitting!

One more

Don't throw away the Ford brakes.
In my experience they are better then the Rimmer's 4-pot conversion.

I'll recondition the ford calipers as a spare kit. I always felt the 2.8 Capri calipers and dics worked well and would have stuck with them, but I bought the 4 pot kit at a discounted price about 10 years ago and as I still have them still in the box I figured I'd finally try and make use of them. If the swept area of the 4 pot pads is greater, then they should work better, but I've not checked the size of the pad or discs for comparison. Type of brake pad can sometimes make all the difference as well. Here's a pic of my old calipers, which I'd imagine are well seized! I think they are Ford calipers. It was an S&S kit and came with 2.8 Capri discs.

Another view

Ordered a load of parts from S&S for the front end rebuild. They came today just as I was finishing repairing the front cill section behind the wing. Good timing as one of the parts was the lower wing cill cover repair! Amongst the parts is a new anti dive kit as I had to cut the old one off as the long bolts had seized inside the aluminium blocks. I've dismantled the suspension lower arms, anti roll bar and suspension struts. I've treated them all with Aqua Seal rust treatment and Bonda primered them all ready for black Hammerite top coat. S&S have also sent me various new bolts and ball joints so should look as good as the back when back together. I've decided to go for S&Ss adjustable ride height front struts to go with the adjustable rears. With these you use the original springs and fittings. My springs were 50mm lowered uprated and these are still in good nic so will get the rust eater and paint treatment. I'm undecided on the front shock inserts. My car had the Spax TA 11 top adjustbales but I do not know how to ascertain if they are still in good order. Anyone know how to check? When I removed them they seem happy to absorb the spindle quite easily but difficult to pull out. When they are fully extended you get resistance if trying to push down hard and pull back up. They are about 20 years old but have done little mileage.

Painted and then fitted the lower wing. A bit rough but it's solid and rust proof! That's the last of the welding needed. The cosmetics to the bodywork will come last.

Oh, I had to borrow a welder off a friend as my Clarke 135 TE packed in yesterday just as I was about to weld the cill panel I made above. It switches on and you can hear the fan spinning, but when you pull the trigger you just get a click from the relay. I thought maybe the wire was snagging in the hose so I cut the wire and had to pull it out. I tested the feed rollers, but when pressing the trigger you just get the click and no action from the wire feed rollers. I think the feed motor could be at fault or maybe the relay. TR7Bob, if you read this, have you had the same problem with yours? Must say my mates Sip seems very good.  

Here's a pic of the S&S front adjustable strut tubes. They do look good!

A bit more progress over weekend. Bonda primered engine bay, front subframe and under arches. Then used black Hammerite on the subframe and red Rustoleum gloss under the arches. Subframe was lowered on the jack so it and the chassis rails could be painted fulley. The next day the subframe Poly bush kit was fitted. Front end starting to look as good as the back now. I also stripped and painted the top spring seats and the upper mounts and primered and hammerited these too. The suspension lower arms have had same treatment and are ready to be bushed and new ball joints. Just awaiting new bump stops and gaitors before reassembly.